The Stage 100: theatre’s power list 2017

The Stage 100 is the definitive list of theatre’s most influential people and partnerships. Each year, a crack team of leading industry figures is polled before senior editorial figures at The Stage consider business success, vision and ability to affect change for the better. Rankings are based on ongoing success, weighted towards achievements in the past 12 months. In terms of diversity, the list aims to reflect the way the theatre and performing arts industry is, not what it aims to be, nor what The Stage would like it to be.

99 Lez Brotherston

Photo: Pamela Raith

Designer

Brotherston is one of the most in-demand designers working in UK theatre today. In 2016, he won the UK Theatre award for his work on Daniel Evans’ productions of both Show Boat and new British musical Flowers for Mrs Harris, which opened at Sheffield Theatres in May 2016. He completed the year on a high, reuniting with regular collaborator Matthew Bourne – Brotherston won a Tony for his design of Bourne’s Swan Lake – on his new dance production of The Red Shoes, which opened in December at Sadler’s Wells to rave reviews. New entry

98 Simeilia Hodge-Dallaway

Artistic Directors of the Future

Hodge-Dallaway is the founder and executive manager of Artistic Directors of the Future, a training initiative designed to increase the number of black, Asian and multi-ethnic artistic directors in mainstream theatres. The initiative, supported by the Young Vic and the Regional Theatre Young Directors Scheme, works in collaboration with the theatre industry to deliver an artistic directors training programme with the aim of creating access to positions of authority in the industry. New entry

97 Anna Fleischle

Photo: Pamela Raith Photography

Designer

Since winning Olivier, Critics’ Circle and Evening Standard awards for her design of Martin McDonagh’s Hangmen, Fleischle has been increasingly in demand. In 2016 she worked on the Royal Shakespeare Company’s productions of Cymbeline, directed by Melly Still, and Two Noble Kinsmen, directed by Blanche McIntyre. She designed Robert Hastie’s Henry V, starring Michelle Terry in the title role, at Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre and made heads spin in the stage version of The Exorcist at Birmingham Repertory Theatre. New entry

96 Emily Dobbs

Photo: Simon Annand

Found 111

Dobbs, a young independent producer, established Found 111, an imaginative, grungy temporary venue in a found space in the former Central St Martins School of Art on Charing Cross Road in central London. The space opened late in 2015 with The Dazzle starring Andrew Scott, produced in conjunction with Michael Grandage. The Off-West End space went on to establish itself as a destination with its production of Tracey Letts’ Bug. The final production was a revival of Sam Shepard’s Fool for Love. Dobbs intends to roll out her model to a different location in 2017. New entry

95 Paule Constable

Lighting designer

Constable is one of the most prolific and effective lighting designers in theatre. She began the year working on the Lyric Hammersmith revival of Simon Stephens’ Herons. She also designed three productions at the National Theatre in 2016: Robert Icke’s production of David Hare’s The Red Barn, Nadia Fall’s production of The Suicide and The Threepenny Opera, directed by Rufus Norris. At Chichester Festival Theatre, she worked on James Graham’s This House and Half a Sixpence, both of which transferred to the West End. She also regularly designs for opera and dance. New entry

94 David Byrne

New Diorama Theatre

Artistic and executive director of London’s New Diorama Theatre, Byrne’s commitment to artist support has seen him set up pioneering initiatives in 2016. Chief is the Cash Flow Fund, an interest-free loan scheme for theatremakers. He has also established a scheme to provide free rehearsal space for black, Asian, minority ethnic and refugee-led theatre companies. Last year the fringe venue hosted the third Incoming Festival of new work by emerging companies, programmed work by Rhum and Clay, Box of Tricks and Kandinsky, and won the 2016 Empty Space Peter Brook award for “creating a vital hub for established and emerging theatre companies”. New entry

92 Gareth Fry

Sound designer

A prolific and award-winning sound designer, Fry has enjoyed a particularly notable 2016. A regular collaborator with Complicite, he worked on Simon McBurney’s mesmeric binaural production The Encounter, which toured in 2016 following a run at the 2015 Edinburgh International Festival. He was also the sound designer on the stage event of 2016, John Tiffany’s two-parter Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. Other work in 2016 included the European premiere of Peter and the Starcatcher at the Royal and Derngate Theatre, Northampton, directed by Luke Sheppard. New entry

91 Tamara Harvey

Photo: Catherine Ashmore

Theatr Clwyd

Harvey is artistic director of Theatr Clwyd in Mold. The director was appointed to the role in summer 2015, replacing previous artistic director Terry Hands. Her impressive inaugural season launched with Robert Hastie’s production of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, which was followed by the regional premiere of April De Angelis’ Jumpy, directed by Lisa Spirling, and Philip Breen’s production of Cyrano de Bergerac. The 20th-anniversary co-production of Jonathan Larson’s musical Rent opened at the venue in October before transferring to the St James Theatre, London, ahead of a tour.New entry

90 Michelle Terry

Photo: Hugo Glendinning

Actor

In 2016 Terry built on her reputation as an actor of range and eloquence. In February, she starred in Katie Mitchell’s revival of Sarah Kane’s Cleansed at the National Theatre and in the summer she joined the ranks of female performers interpreting some of the major male roles in Shakespeare, playing Henry V in Robert Hastie’s production at Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre, London. At an NT Platform in response to comments made by Ronald Harwood, she revealed that “having a vagina did not make any difference at all” to her portrayal of Henry V. New entry

88 Lucian Msamati

Photo: Mark Douet

Actor

Following his performance as Iago for the Royal Shakespeare Company in 2015, Msamati starred in two of the National Theatre’s most acclaimed productions. In February he gave one of the stand-out performances in Dominic Cooke’s production of August Wilson’s Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom and in November he starred in Michael Longhurst’s glorious revival of Peter Shaffer’s Amadeus. In a year when diversity of casting had been the source of some of the biggest conversations in theatre, Msamati was leading the way. New entry

86 David Jubb

Battersea Arts Centre

Jubb is the artistic director of London’s Battersea Arts Centre, part of which was destroyed in a fire in 2015. A Phoenix fund was set up to raise money for restoration work. Last year saw the opening of a new courtyard performance space with a new show, Extravaganza Macabre, by Little Bulb. The venue is also creating eight new artist bedrooms, which will allow artists to stay in the building. A champion of new work, this autumn it staged London Stories: Made by Migrants, a building-wide storytelling project in which Londoners told audiences their personal experiences of migration. New entry

84 Michael Longhurst

Photo: Marc Brenner

Director

Longhurst built on a prolific and successful 2015 by returning to the Almeida Theatre, where he directed Simon Stephens’ Carmen Disruption, to stage Adam Brace’s new play They Drink It in the Congo. He followed this up by making his directing debut in the Olivier at the National Theatre in November with a superb revival of Peter Shaffer’s play Amadeus, starring Lucian Msamati as Salieri and featuring the Southbank Sinfonia. New entry

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